Confirmed Cases of Locally Transmitted Zika Reaches 36 in Florida

HealthDay News — Florida Govenor Rick Scott confirmed on Friday that local transmission of the Zika virus has occurred in Miami Beach, with a total of five cases reported so far.

Until now, local transmission of mosquito-borne Zika has been restricted to a neighborhood in north Miami known as Wynwood. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had already advised that pregnant women not travel to the Wynwood area, and on Friday the agency announced that the travel advisory would now include the Zika-affected area of Miami Beach. "We believe we have a new area where local transmission is occurring in Miami Beach," Scott told reporters during a noon news conference.

The five cases include three men and two women, two of whom are local residents and three who were tourists visiting from New York, Texas, and Taiwan. The area involving this latest cluster of cases includes 1.5 square miles between 8th and 28th streets in Miami Beach, said Scott, who added that there are now 36 confirmed cases of local Zika infection statewide.

"Pregnant women should avoid travel to the designated area of Miami Beach, in addition to the designated area of Wynwood, both located in Miami-Dade County, because active local transmission of Zika has been confirmed," the CDC said in a statement issued Friday soon after Scott's press conference.